AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT (SYLLABUS FOR ICAR’S JRF/SRF(PGS) )

SYLLABUS FOR THE ALL INDIA COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR ADMISSION TO DOCTORAL DEGREE PROGRAMMES AND THE AWARD OF

JRF/SRF (PGS)

69 AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT 

Unit 1: Basics of management &Organizational Behavior 

Management – Nature, Scope and Significance of Management - Evolution of Management Thought - Classical School of management, Hawthorne studies, Modern theories of management - Approaches to Management- Functions of management – Planning, organising, staffing, directing (motivation, supervision, communication, leadership) controlling. 

Models of organizational behavior. Micro organizational behavior-Personality, perception, attitude.Motivational theories. Leadership styles& theories. Group dynamics - Stages of group development, types of teams. Conflict management. 

Unit 2: Human Resource Management 

Human Resource planning- Job analysis- Job designing. Recruitment and selection – Training - orientation, Types of training, management development - Performance appraisal. Promotions and Transfers – Types, separation, absenteeism. Wage and salary administration- Types of wages, employee benefits. Employee welfare -Industry relations- Collective bargaining. Quality of work life - Grievance handling. 

Unit 3: Financial Management & Managerial Accounting 

Financial management objectives & functions – Financial statement analysis - balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement - Capital Structure, Determinants of size and composition of Capital Structure, Capital Structure Theories; Long term financing and Cost of CapitalWorking Capital Management, Determinants of Size and Composition of Working Capital, Cash and receivables management, Working Capital Management Theories,Financing of Working Capital- Financial planning and Forecasting, proforma statements - mergers & acquisition, Capital Budgeting, Undiscounted and Discounted methods of Investment Appraisal (Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Benefit Cost (B-C) ratio analysis); Hybrid finance and lease finance - Indian Financial Institutions, markets and intermediaries, Dividend decision - venture capital financing and its stages, micro finance Importance of agricultural finance; rural credit structure-demand, supply, sources and forms - reforms in agricultural credit policy; innovations in agricultural financing - microfinance, Kisan credit cards - role of institutions in agri-finance - public and private sector banks; cooperatives, micro- finance institutions (MF1s), SHGs; Financial Accounting- Meaning, Need, Concepts and Conventions -Management AccountingMeaning, Functions, Scope, Utility, Limitations and Tools of Management Accounting - Cost Accounting – Nature, Significance of Cost Accounting; Classification of Cost, Marginal Costing and cost volume profit Analysis- Its Significance, Uses and Limitations -Budgeting and Profit Planning, Different Types of Budgets and their Preparations, Sales Budget, Purchase Budget, Production Budget, Cash Budget, Flexible Budget, Master Budget, Zero Based Budgeting. 

Unit 4: Marketing Management and International Marketing of Agri-products 

Agricultural marketing; interventions by institutions, regulated markets, buffer stock operations, price stabilization measures and policies, Forward trading and futures market; contract farming; cooperative and collective farming,Farmer Producer Organizations. Marketing of agricultural inputs, role of private sector in input and output marketing; Rural marketing. The Concepts of Marketing Management; Marketing Environment; Marketing Mix, Strategic Marketing, Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning; Market Competition Analysis - Consumer buying behavior - Marketing Information System - Marketing potential and demand forecasting, Classification of Products; Product Life Cycle; New Product Development; Product Line and Product Mix; Branding, Packaging and labeling -Factors affecting prices; Pricing Policies and Strategies; Pricing Methods-Types of Distribution Channels; Functions of Channel Members; Channel Management Decisions - Promotion Mix; Introduction to Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Publicity and Public Relations; managing integrated marketing promotion, Customer Relationship Management. Direct & E-marketing and cause related marketing. International Marketing: Meaning, nature and importance; International marketing environment. International Marketing Segmentation, targeting and Positioning: Screening and selection of markets; International marketing entry strategies. International Product and Pricing Strategies: Product standardization vs. adaptation; product life cycle, Factors affecting International price determination; Managing International Distribution and Distribution channel strategy. International promotion strategies: communications across countries, international promotion mix. International marketing decision making, implementation and control; ecological concerns and international marketing ethics. WTO, agri-exports, procedures for export; analysis of export markets, export promotion organizations, tools and techniques for optimizing the export functions. 

Unit 5: Operations management 

Nature and Scope of Production and Operations Management; Its relationship with Other Systems in the Organization -Facility location, capacity planning and Layouts, Types of Manufacturing Systems - Process design-Types of process and operations systems: continuous, custom, job shop, batch processing, assembly line. Process - product matrix. Production Planning and Control-Forecasting - Aggregate production planning – Production strategies-Level, chase and mixed strategy. Master production scheduling. Work study- Method and Time study, Maintenance management - Overview of Materials Management, Purchase Management, Determination of Material Requirement, Material Planning, MRP, MRP II - Enterprise Resources Planning. Inventory management, JIT, Pull and Push Systems, Kanban system. Quality Assurance, Acceptance Sampling, Statistical Process Control, Total Quality Management, BIS, ISO and AGMARK quality standards, HACCP procedure, Productivity Variables and Productivity Measurement, Reengineering, value engineering, Value Analysis, Waste and lean Management Logistics – Introduction, Scope, Functions and Objectives, Role of Logistics in competitive strategy, E- Logistics – Structure and Operation, Reverse logistics. 3 PL and 4 PL. Warehousing functions, Types- Material Handling and Storage Systems- Distribution Management – Strategies, Transportation system –Infrastructure, Networks and Transport economies. Packaging – Consumer and Industrial packaging. Supply chain – Fundamentals, Drivers - Decisions in Supply Chain. Supply chain coordination, Current Trends in Supply Chain Management – E business. IT Applications in SCM and value chain management 

Unit 6: Managerial economics 

Scope of managerial economics, objective of the firm and basic economic principles; Consumer theory. Demand analysis - meaning, types and determinants of demand; demand function; demand elasticity; demand forecasting-need and techniques. Production, cost and supply analysis- production function, least-cost input combination, factor productivities and returns to scale, cost concepts, cost-output relationship, Pricing-determinants of price-pricing under different market structures. Price discrimination- Factor prices-pricing under different market structures, government policies and pricing. National income; circular flow of income: consumption, investment and saving: money-functions, demand & supply; inflation; economic growth; business cycles and business policies; Recent developments in the national and international economic and agricultural scenarios. 

Unit 7: Research methods 

Objectives, types, and process of research; Problem formulation; formulation of hypothesis and testing - Scales of measurement; Sampling design, Types of sampling - Probability and nonprobability sampling techniques, sample size determination, sampling and non-sampling errors. Role and uses of quantitative techniques in business decision making, Data collection methods – sources of data – Data editing, coding tabulation – data analysis – statistical methods- Univariate and multivariate techniques - Report writing. 

Unit 8: Operations research 

Linear Programming: Objective, Assumptions, Formulation of Linear Programming Problem, Graphic Method, Simplex method; Transportation and Assignment Problems; Inventory control Models, Costs Involved in Inventory Management, Types of Inventory; Waiting Line Models: Waiting Line Problem, Characteristics of a Waiting Line System; Decision making under Risk and uncertainties, Decision tree ; Game Theory- Two -Person Zero-Sum Game; Simulation; Network analysis - Markov Chains. 

Unit 9: Agribusiness Environment and Policy 

Role of agriculture in Indian economy; problems and challenges related to farm supplies, farm production, agricultural finance, agro-processing, agricultural marketing, etc. in the country. Agribusiness - definition and nature, components of agribusiness management, changing dimensions of agribusiness. Micro and Macro environment in Agribusiness. Structure of Agriculture - Linkages among sub-sectors of the Agribusiness; economic reforms and Indian agriculture; impact of liberalization, privatization and globalization on Agri-business sector. Emerging trends in production, processing, marketing and exports; policy controls and regulations relating to the industrial sector with specific reference to agro-industries. Agribusiness policies- concept and formulation - Foreign investment policy in India: Types, advantages and disadvantages of FDI -Emerging trends in production, processing, marketing and exports. 

Unit 10: Strategic Management 

Corporate strategy, mission and objectives. Values, ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and strategy. Environment, competitor, industry and internal analysis - Generic strategies, vertical integration and capacity expansion, entry into new business and - growth and diversification strategies - Strategies during industry maturity and decline Strategy in fragmented industries - Strategy implementation. Strategy and managing change. Evaluation of corporate strategy – control, motivation, criteria, corrective action. 

Unit 11: Project Management and Entrepreneurship Development 

Concept, Characteristics of projects, types of projects, project identification, and Project’s life cycle - Project feasibility- market feasibility, technical feasibility, financial feasibility, and economic feasibility, social cost-benefit analysis, project risk analysis - Network Methods: Meaning, Network Analysis, Requirements for Network Analysis, Critical Path Method (CPM), Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT), Project scheduling and resource allocation - Financial appraisal/evaluation techniques- Project implementation, Project control and information system. Entrepreneurship, Significance of entrepreneurship in economic development and qualities of entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME); Innovation – sources and roles. Entrepreneurial Competencies; Steps involved in setting up of MSME. Establishing MSME Enterprises: Opportunities, Scanning-Choice of Enterprise; Market Assessment for MSME; Choice of Technology and Selection of Site. Enterprises-Getting organized: Financing New enterprises; sources and issues, preparation of business plan; ownership structure and organizational framework. Financial management; Technology and Business incubation process and services in India. Government policy for promotion of agribusiness entrepreneurship. Commercialization of technologies, Intellectual Property Rights – Types, and legislations. Management issues in MSMEs; Management Performance assessment and control; Strategies for stabilization and growth; Managing family enterprises.